Gaming News - Page 1622

We know that both Target and Kmart Australia have banned Grand Theft Auto V from their shelves, with a petition that has been fired back by peeved gamers that want to see the Bible banned from sale, too. Well, now Take-Two Interactive's Chairman and CEO, Karl Slatoff has stepped up to talk about it all.

Slatoff talked at the BMO Capital Markets 2014 Technology & Digital Media Conference, where he said that people who find individual pieces of content offensive should simply not purchase that product. He said: "It's one thing for someone to not want to buy a piece of content, which is completely understandable. And that's really the solution. If you don't like it and it's offensive to you, then you don't buy it".

He also talked about the petition, and that the results were an infringement on free speech, where he added: "For a person or a group of people to try to make that decision for millions of people... We have 34 million people who bought Grand Theft Auto, and if these folks had their way, none of those people would be able to buy Grand Theft Auto. And that really just flies in the face of everything that free society is based on. It's the freedom of expression, and to try to squelch that is a dangerous and slippery slope to go down".

Microsoft has a nice exclusive for the Xbox One next year, with Rise of the Tomb Raider hitting its console sometime in 2015. The company's Head of Global Product Marketing, Aaron Greenberg, announced the news on Twitter. Greenberg said: "Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider".

The company announced its exclusivity of the sequel to Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider at E3 2014 earlier this year, and then at Gamescom 2014, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President Phil Harrison announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. This means the PlayStation 4 and PC could see Rise of the Tomb Raider sometime after it hits the Xbox One, but that timed exclusive for Microsoft could be months.

The reboot of Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics has been a big hit for the company, with Tomb Raider selling millions upon millions of copies across the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It was then released for the PS4 and Xbox One as Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, and then we've just had the launch of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, too.

Alien: Isolation is one of the scariest, most atmospheric games ever made... so why not make it even harder? That must be the exact train of thought that Creative Assembly, the developer of the game, is on, as they've just announced two new difficulty modes for the game. Novice, and Nightmare.

Novice will slide in before Easy, Normal and Hard modes, but it's the Nightmare mode that has people excited. Creative Assembly promises that the new Nightmare mode provides the "ultimate alien". Nightmare cranks up the scares by making your motion tracker not-so-perfect, as its signal can be kinda on the fritz half the time. Other tweaks inside of the Nightmare mode for Alien: Isolation include faster-burning fuel for your flamethrower that is also harder to find.

The Novice mode for the game provides a slower, less adaptive and not-so-clicked-on Xenomorph, which can be good for gamers who don't want to be replacing their pants every 15 minutes. The combat in Alien: Isolation is also dialled down a notch on Novice, making it easier to play through the game in general.

Razer has just announced their launch of a Stream Viewer through their VoIP messenger program named 'Comms'. The press release issued explains this new advancements purpose is to "seamlessly integrates popular streaming providers such as Twitch, the world's leading video platform and community for gamers, to enhance the social experience of gaming".

Razer further explains that the three main issues of stream viewing today include; discovery of new streams, being alerted when streamers go live and social interaction on streams due to the amount of spamming in the popular channels. They plan to rectify these issues through various different methods, with their new software integration allowing stream recommendations to users based on interest, alongside friends being able to suggest streams to their peers.

The main features offered by the Stream Viewer integration with Razer Comms include:

Even after the release of Final Stand, the fifth piece of DLC for Battlefield 4, DICE has said that they're not finished with the game. The developer has said that it wants to see gamers continue to tell them what they'd like to see in the form of future DLC for the first-person shooter.

DICE said in its latest Battlelog update: "With Battlefield 4 Final Stand released, we hope and believe that you will enjoy it together with the rest of the game for a long time. However, there is one thing we want to assure you: there is more content coming for Battlefield 4". We don't know what that will arrive as exactly, but DICE did add: "rest assured that we'll get back to you on the future of Battlefield 4 when the time is right".

Polygon reports that we could expect more reimagined maps, which are maps from the older Battlefield 4 games, remade in the well-powered Frostbite 3 engine. EA and DICE will have to do something with BF4, as there's no flagship Battlefield game coming out until 2016, with Battlefield 5 promised for two years from now. Battlefield: Hardline is coming next year, being developed by Visceral Games, but it's not a "true" Battlefield 4 successor. Bring on 2016.

Previously known as HL2: Wars, this Real Time Strategy (RTS) mod is currently in BETA and functions as a free multiplayer Source Engine modification for Alien Swarm set in the Half-Life 2 universe.

Self-described on its Steam store page as "the war between mankind and their brutal Combine overlords to a traditional real-time strategy (RTS) setting" it has many Half-Life fans foaming at the mouth.

With only 36 current reviews on record and 930 followers on Twitter, it's quite early days for Lambada Wars - however there's barely a negative thought to be seen surrounding all of its online media. Taking a quick browse through the user reviews you can see responses such as "Reminds me of starcraft II more than Company of heros, which I like. I know RTS's are not for everyone, but try it." and "EPIC! It's like HL2 Mixed with Command and conquer! Also there is sandbox mode. The gameplay is fun and exiting, and there are different gamemodes including Multiplayer. 10/10!".

Markus Boesen has built himself a dream PC gaming setup, the kind that you see on fan websites photo-shopped up as someones dream. Set to provide himself with the best gaming experience possible, Boesen has taken these ideas and brought them to reality.

Utilizing three 3D monitors running at a combined 5760 x 1080 resolution, he's also installed touchscreen inputs, voice recognition, head-tracking and carefully arranged Saitek joysticks to ensure this gaming pad is more of a cockpit than a regular desktop setup.

Elite: Dangerous is the current game of choice, giving a full life-like experience to the gamer - thanks to all of the extras that have been added. The only thing missing here is a seat that pivots and turns with the game play action, but I daresay that it might start to make you sick.

Surrounded by a Steam-like frenzy, Australian game and accessory retailer EB Games has launched their 'Mad Monday' sales to a mixed reception.

Offering up some crazy discounts like last-gen consoles including the PS3 for $198 AUD with 8 pre-owned games, all the way to a massive $70 AUD discount on one model of Audio-Technica headphones throughout their one day sale, set to help you kick off your working week.

Overall these discounts were quite hefty and seemingly widespread through many different products, however there are quite a few consumers who aren't exactly pleased with the 'crazy deals' that EB Games have on offer. Taking a look through their #MadMonday trend on Twitter, some of these 'deals' aren't really deals at all.

The Sony PlayStation 4 has largely dominated the Microsoft Xbox One throughout 2014, but a recent price cut - and unbundling the Xbox One from the Kinect - has helped generate more interest in the Xbox One. The price cut helped spur sales for the Xbox One, with Microsoft trying to build on a strong end of 2014 leading into the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early 2015.

The Xbox One snatched up 53 percent of console sales on Black Friday, while the PS4 trailed with 31 percent - and both companies likely saw strong sales on Cyber Monday - as sales continue leading up to Christmas.

Microsoft added this tidbit: "Since the new Xbox One offering launched on June 9, we've seen sales of Xbox One more than double in the U.S., compared to sales in May."

Sony has shown off the first gameplay footage to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, which is an exclusive to the PlayStation 4, at its own PlayStation Experience event. The footage can be viewed in the video below.

As you can see, or might have noticed, it is running at Full HD (1920x1080, or 1080p) at a fluid 60FPS. There's an increase in visual effects and detail, such as Nathan Drake rustling up the foliage as he walks past it, or through it, and dust being flicked up when bullets start smashing into rocks and other parts of the environment.

Naughty Dog did promise us 1080p at 60FPS a little while ago, so it's good to see them mostly hitting the target here with Uncharted 4 on the PS4. For now, enjoy that nice, long 15-minute video of Uncharted 4 on the PlayStation 4.